Humming yo-yo



March 26, 1957 w. H. FUTTERER HUMMING YO-YO Filed March 28, 1955 William H. F ufferer INVEN TOR.

United States Patent HUMMING YO-YO William H. Futterer, Key West, Fla.

Application March 28, 1955, Serial No. 497,047

4 Claims. (Cl. 46--61) This invention relates generally to spinning toys, and more particularly to a yo-yo incorporating therein means for directing a current of air over a sound generating instrumentality whereby said yo-yo will when rotated, give forth pleasant musical tones.

A further object of invention in conformance with that set forth above is to provide in a yo-yo, sound producing means responsive to the intake of a current of air dur ing rotation of said yo-yo, said current of air passing over a vibratory reed and from which source musical sounds emanate.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the yo-yo involved in this invention; 7

Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of the yo-yo with parts broken away for clarity;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 5 illustrating another embodiment of harmonic instrumentalities incorporated in the novel yo-yo.

Briefly, the invention comprises a pair of duplicate hollow shell-like components or heads which are aligned and oppositely disposed and have spaced parallel confronting inward faces. The faces are centrally connected together by way of the usual cord accommodating pin, that is, the pin on which an operating cord is wound. The chamber of each hollow component is centrally separated by a divider or partition which defines a pair of independent sound compartments. A vibratory reed is mounted for operation in each compartment. Also, there is a peripheral air scoop for delivering air under pressure into the compartments and against the reed to vibrate the same. Then, too, the peripheral portion of each compartment has a discharge port which is usually spaced circumferentially from the companion air scoop. It follows that there are at least four individual reeds, one reed in each of the four distinct compartments. Each reed is tuned to a given or distinctive pitch and the four tones produce when the reeds are simultaneously vibrated a melodious or musical chord.

Indicated generally at It) is a yo-yo which includes the usual curved sides 12 which are connected by means of an integral center pin 14, the yo-yo being operated by the usual string 16. It will be understood that the yo-yo will rotate in both a clockwise and counter-clockwise direction when being utilized, and accordingly the noise making instrumentalities incorporated in the yo-yo will operate regardless of the direction of rotation of the yo- "ice m 2 yo. Furthermore, it is to be understood that each. of the sides are symmetrical.

Each of the sides 12 includes an outer shell portion 18 which terminates at their edges 20 on planar inner sides 22. Accordingly, each of the sides have formed therein hollow chambers 24, said chambers 24 being divided by means of a central partition element 26 which extends outwardly at right angles from the element 22. Thus the partition 26 divides the chamber 24 into two compartments 28, each of which is provided with a sound producing element. Each of the sides 12 include in communication with the chambers-28 a relatively large open air scoop passage 30 contained in the outer periphery of the sides of the yo-yo. The passage 30 terminates in a relatively reduced portion 32, as seen in Figures 3 and 4, and includes, extending beyond the reduced apertured portion 32, a ledge portion 34 which contains an elongated aperture 36 extending therethrough, said aperture 36 being covered by an elongated flexible reed element 38 which is secured on the ledge portion 34 by means of a suitable rivet 40. At the opposite end of chamber 28 from the air scoop passage 30 is an air escape aperture 42 and accordingly air entering passages 30 as indicated by the arrows A pass through the passage 30 due to the speed of rotation of the yo-yo, the air pressure being increased due to the reduction of aperture 32, whereupon air rushes past the end 44 of the reed out of the aperture 36 and finally out of the chamber 28 through the aperture 42, the direction of the air leaving the aperture 42 being indicated by the arrow E.

The embodiment disclosed in Figure 6 illustrates the side 12 including an air scoop passage 30' which terminates in a reduced aperture 32' which is larger than that disclosed in the previous embodiment, and incorporates a plurality of noise making reeds 38' which in themselves may produce different sounds, and thus it is possible to increase the range of tone produced by the humming yo-yo.

Thus, it is believed readily apparent that there has been disclosed a toy which fully conforms with the objects of invention heretofore set forth.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A musical-type yo-yo comprising a pair of correspondingly constructed hollow circular components disposed in opposed spaced parallel relationship and axially and cooperatively connected together at their respective central portions by an axially located pin and providing a conventional-type yo-yo, at least one of said components being provided with at least one funnel-shaped air scoop, said air scoop being located in a peripheral portion of said one component and having an enlarged air intake mouth at its outward end and a restricted air passage at its inward end disposed within the hollow chamber of said one component whereby air under force derived from the rotation of the yo-yo is funneled by way of said air scoop into said chamber, said peripheral portion of said one component being provided at a circumferentially spaced point with an air discharge port and a vibratory peripheral portion; of said one component is also provided' with a second funnel-shaped air scoop circumferentially spaced from and a duplicate of said first named air scoop, and a second vibratory reed likewise cooperatively mounted in said chamber in axial relationship with the restricted air passage of said second air scoop said chamber being interiorly separated by a divider into individual compartments, said first named air scoop being confined for operation in one compartment and said second air scoop being confined for operation in the other compartment.

3. A musical-type yo-yo comprising a pair of duplicate oppositely disposed spaced parallel hollow shell-like components centrally connected together by way of a cord accommodating pin, the chamber of each hollow component being centrally separated by a divider into a pair of independent compartments, each compartment having a vibratory reed mounted for operation therein, also having a peripheral air scoop for delivering air under pressure into the compartment and against the reed for vibrating the same, and having a discharge port spaced circumferentially from said air scoop.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 and wherein there are at least four individual reeds, one reed in each of the four distinct compartments, each reed being tuned to a distinctively given pitch, and the four tones produced when the reeds are simultaneously vibrated combining to sound a melodious chord.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 976,695 Rich Nov. 22, 1910 2,015,649 Amell Oct. 1, 1935 2,226,195 Buben Dec. 24, 1940 

